Lost in Central
by HappiestUnderClouds
Summary: Al is gone and Ed is devastated. What's Roy to do when he comes across the young alchemist crying in the rain? Can he comfort Ed? AU. Songfic of "Lost in Hollywood". Character Death. Parental!RoyxEd. Rated T for language, obviously. Angsty.


**Hey guys! Didja miss me? ;)**

**I'm back already. Sheesh. I really must love this fandom. I bet my Bleach readers are pissed that I haven't updated in over a month. Sorry guys ^_^'**

**Well, here's a new oneshot, based off "Lost in Hollywood" by System of a Down. Caution: It's really angsty. Thanks to silvers-edge for betaing :) Really appreciate it!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own FMA or the song. Sorry!**

**Enjoy!**

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_**I'll wait here. **__**You're crazy  
Those vicious streets are filled with strays  
You should have never gone to Hollywood**_

Grey skies wept its tears onto Central; the icy drops caressed the buildings and unfortunate souls still outside. Thunder rumbled angrily, but harmlessly, a few miles away, preceded by ribbons of lightning darting through the sky like a snake's tongue. The clouds rolled by at disturbing speeds, churning and thrashing as they floated in the sky.

It was afternoon; nearing dinner time in fact. The few people left on the streets dashed from shelter to shelter, trying to stay dry as they rushed to a warm home and loving family. Most of them passed a young boy who was soaked and looked like a drowned cat. His blonde hair stuck to his face, and his red jacket fluttered behind him lifelessly. Glances of pity were directed at him, and one even offered to give him a ride home, but he only procured a reply of a half-hearted glare and a dismissing wave of the boy's hand.

His eyes were rimmed with red, downgrading the beautiful gold that curled warmly around small black pupils. The sclera was bloodshot. They flickered up long enough to make sure he wasn't going to walk in to anything and immediately flitted back to the ground; a few hiccups escaped him, and a few sniffles could be heard if you were standing near enough. The boy looked lost, though his feet moved at a fast pace, as if he were trying to outrun his thoughts, emotions, and memories. A whimper escaped his lips, but no one was around to hear the pain and grief-filled sound.

_**They find you**__**  
**_**_Two-time you__  
__Say you're the best they've ever see,__  
__You should have never trusted Hollywood._**

He stumbled, and fell to the ground with a clatter. A silver watch bounced out of his pocket, and gleamed in the shallow puddle. The boy scooped it up, and staggered underneath a small canopy, settling down on a bench beneath it. Now that he was out of the rain, you could see tears welled up in his eyes and his fists were clenched in his attempt to suppress them.

Loud footsteps approached the boy, who slowly lifted his head up to see who his new companion was. A tall man with black hair and matching eyes was gazing down at him caringly and sadly. His navy blue military uniform was darker than normal from the rain, and drops dangled precariously off the tips of his hair.

"Fullmetal? Can I sit here?" He asked softly, only getting a nod as a response. He settled down onto the bench, and turned slightly to watch the young boy. "Edward? Talk to me. Keeping it in won't help you."

The blond, Ed, wasn't listening to his urging words. He was too busy lingering in his own memories.

_**I wrote you**__**  
**_**_And told you__  
__You were the biggest fish out here__  
__You should have never gone to Hollywood_**

"_C'mon Brother, you need to hurry! You're supposed to meet the Colonel in 2 minutes!" A large suit of armor jogged along beside Edward, making him seem much smaller than he truly was. Edward simply laughed, slowing his pace against his brother's wishes. "Al, don't worry! We've been gone for a whole year! I don't think another 5 minutes will make that big of a difference!" _

_Alphonse slowed, matching his brother's footsteps with a small chuckle. "If you say so, Brother, but if Colonel Mustang yells at you, don't blame me!" They approached a large white building and jogged up the steps, only using every other one. Their footsteps made loud clanging noises against the steps, mostly because 3 out of the 4 were metal. They pushed open the double doors and immediately turned left toward the staircase. New recruits scurried around them, some of them saluting if they recognized who he was, others simply gawking at the fact that a _kid _was in Central Command. _

_After reaching the top of the 2__nd__ floor, Ed paused and propped himself up against a wall. His brother simply stared and Ed returned it defensively. "What? I don't want to be out of breath when I get there! It's been a year, I gotta make another good impression." Al's footsteps clanged as he walked to stand next to the shorter Elric, a small chuckle echoing through the armor. "Brother, I don't think you would ever need to make another impression on the Colonel and his team. You're personality is already pretty well defined. Not many people can forget it."_

_The Fullmetal Alchemist grinned up at his brother, before a thoughtful expression overtook his face. "I wonder how this meeting will go and how different everyone is.." "Well, I don't think they'll have changed a lot. We've known them for 4 years now. And the meeting will probably be the same as it normally is. You'll kick open the door, he'll demand that you fix it, you'll refuse, then he'll sigh and tell you to report, you'll rant and rave about what happened. And then he'll make a short joke and you'll get furious and try to kill him, and I'll hold you back and then you'll try to convince me to kill the Colonel as well-" A shaky voice interrupted Alphonse's pondering. Al turned to face a young soldier, probably a new recruit. "Kill the Colonel? Who the hell are you? Are you terrorists?" His voice rose in pitch, attracting the attention of a nearby General that Ed and Al didn't recognize._

_**They take you**__**  
**_**_And make you__  
__They look at you in disgusting ways__  
__You should never trusted Hollywood_**

"_Terrorists? What the hell?" The General fumbled for a moment before whipping a gun out of his holster and pointing it at Alphonse. Before Edward could stop him, a bang echoed through the hall, and the suit of armor that Al's soul was inhabiting fell backwards, landing harshly on the tile with a few harsh-sounding clangs. Ed gaped and dropped to his knees next to the armor. The eye holes were dark, instead of their normal glowing red. "Alphonse? Alphonse?" Edward frantically questioned, but when he got no response, he lifted the helmet, and choked at what he saw. _

_The bullet had gone straight through the blood seal. It was cracked in half and there was a gaping hole in the middle of it. An anguished cry filled the halls of Central, and many froze when they heard it. The raw emotion was heart-breaking. One particularly impatient Colonel heard it, and recognized it as his heart filled with dread. He dashed out of his office with his subordinates trailing behind him, worry clear on their faces. They managed to locate where the sound originated from and were immediately greeted by familiar blond hair and a red jacket. _

_Edward was currently facing the General, and screeching at him at the top of his lungs. The words were barely comprehensible, and the General was panicking at what to do when what looked like a 14 year-old yelled at him. Colonel Mustang stepped forward in front of Ed, successfully separating the two. He turned to face his subordinate questioningly. "What happened, Ed?" Edward choked out a small noise, but merely pointed at Al's motionless suit of armor and then back to the General, who was still holding the smoking gun. Mustang managed to piece together what happened, but he wanted to hear the words themselves come from his superior._

_**I was standing on the wall**__**  
**_**_Feeling ten feet tall__  
__All you maggots smoking f**s on Santa Monica Boulevard__  
__This is my front page__  
__This is my new age__  
__All you bitches put your hands in the air and wave them like you just don't care_**

"_General Brigh, what happened here?" The General stood taller and puffed out his chest, his feathers ruffled by being commanded by someone who was ranked below him. "Mustang. A new recruit accused these two of being terrorists and that they were going to kill some Colonel. So I shot the guy in the suit of armor to protect the safety of our men." Mustang's eyes burned with an anger that most didn't normally see. "So you shot first and thought later? Could you not have taken them in for custody? Do you not realize who you've just shot? You just shot the brother of the Fullmetal Alchemist, who happens to be _my _subordinate!" _

_General Brigh glared down at the shorter man. "That can't be the Fullmetal Alchemist! He's just a kid!" Mustang waved his arm impatiently in Ed's direction to stop him from ranting about his height before he could start. "Well, that's him. Take a good look. Because if you ever come this close to him, I'm sure you'll lose something important. Like maybe your pride_,_ but if not that, then your ability to have children_._ He's hard to control. I just might not be able to stop him if he attacks you." Mustang absently inspected his fingernails as Brigh humphed before sneering degradingly at Ed. "Well, _pipsqueak_, maybe next time you and your brother shouldn't talk about such things in a military base." He spun around and strode down the hallway. The recruit who had initially started the mess had disappeared long ago. _

_**All you maggots smoking f**s out there on Sunset Boulevard**__**  
**_**_All you bitches put your hands in the air and wave them like you just don't care_**

_Mustang turned to Ed. "Are you alright?" He asked. Ed didn't answer, simply staring at the floor, clearly in shock. The Flame alchemist stretched a hand out worriedly toward his subordinate, but before he could set it on the boy's shoulder, he crumpled to the ground, legs splayed and face in his hands. His shoulders shook with unheard sobs and Roy crouched down next to him. _

"_Fullmetal-" "Just go away!" The boy cried, his voice cracking on the last word as he scooted across the floor to sit next to the suit of armor that had been Al's soul's home for so long now. Hawkeye chose this moment to speak, walking towards her superior. "Sir, we should leave him to grieve for a few minutes. Al was really important to him."_

_Roy could only nod as he gazed sadly down upon the teenager who now seemed much younger as he cried silently next to his brother, brushing his gloved fingers softly against the broken blood seal._

_**Phoney people come to pray**__**  
**_**_Look at all of them beg to stay__  
__Phoney people come to pray_**

"Ed?" A soft voice interrupted the blonde's reminiscing, and he slowly lifted his now tear-filled eyes to look up. Mustang was gazing down at him concernedly. It had been 13 days since the funeral, 17 since the incident. Al was now buried next to his mother in Risembool, and Ed had chosen to come back to Central because he wasn't sure where else to go.

Tears dripped through closed eyelids, and as if a dam had been broken, they began to flood out, and shoulders clothed in red shook as the boy sniffled and choked on air as he cried. A blue covered arm wrapped gently around his shoulders, and pulled him closer to the man next to him.

"Don't hold them back. Just let it all go, Ed. It's all going to be alright," Mustang murmured into soft blond hair that was still damp from the rain. Seeking warmth, Ed unconsciously shifted closer as Mustang continued to murmur soft, but wordless comforts, soothing the pain of his subordinate.

As his sniffles and tears subsided, Edward slowly lifted his head up to embarrassedly watch Roy. "Sorry about that...you didn't have to stay." He whispered, unsure if he talked louder that his voice would crack. Roy simply smiled, with a hint of grimness in it, before standing.

_**(The lines in the letter said, "We have gone to Hackensack")**__**  
**_**_Look at all of them beg to stay__  
__Phoney people come to pray_**

"C'mon Fullmetal. You're freezing. Let's get you somewhere warm and something hot to drink." He turned and walked down the street, where the rain had turned into a slight drizzle, and Edward stumbled after him.

After a few minutes of walking, they finally got to an upscale apartment complex, and Mustang led Ed toward a staircase and jogged easily up the steps, Ed following behind at a slower pace. At apartment number 769, Roy pulled a small key ring from his pocket and opened the door, gesturing for Ed to follow.

The two stepped into a well furnished living room, and, after slipping off his shoes, Roy directed his steps toward the kitchen, with Ed following behind shyly. He snuck into the room in time to see Roy plop something into a saucepan, and grab 2 mugs out of a cabinet and set them on the counter.

_**All you maggots smoking f**s on Santa Monica Boulevard**__**  
**_**_All you maggots smoking f**s out there on Sunset Boulevard__  
__All you maggots smoking f**s out there on Hollywood Boulevard_**

Spotting him, Roy smiled slightly, no hint of the smirk that normally adorned the pale face. He shooed him back out into the living room, saying he would be there in a few minutes. True to his word, he returned with the 2 steaming mugs and handed one to the blonde, who discovered the drink was a rich brown; hot chocolate.

He took a sip, but flinched away from the scalding drink that had caused a new burn on his tongue. The Colonel chuckled, refraining from sipping his own.

"I suppose I should've told you that it was hot," he muttered, grinning into his mug. Edward glared, but softened soon after. They sat in silence for a few minutes, both of them unsure how to break it.

"So...Ed...where were you on that year long trip?"

_**You should have never trusted Hollywood**__**  
**_**_You should have never gone to Hollywood__  
__All you bitches put your hands in the air and wave them like you just don't care_**

Ed stared down at his drink for a moment or two, before rasping, "Xing. Al and I were hoping we could find something like the stone that could bring his body back. That and we wanted to visit a few old friends." The teenager's eyes were glazed as he thought back on the trip that just ended so recently, remembering all the strange traditions of Amestris' neighbouring country. Roy left Ed to reminisce as he sipped his now cooler drink, enjoying the warmth that spread through him from the inside.

"It was a lot of fun, but we missed it here. Everybody at Central, Winry, Granny Pinako. So we came back..." he trailed off, knowing I would understand why he did that. We sat in silence for a few more minutes, but it wasn't an awkward silence, more companionable than anything. Ed looked like he was about to say something, but he kept hesitating, opening and closing his mouth like a fish.

"Who was that guy anyway?" Ed finally asked, his voice quiet and his eyes on his drink, obviously referring to the incident that happened over 2 weeks ago. Roy hesitated, unsure whether or not he should tell, but since the General was his brother's killer, he had a right to know. He sighed before starting. "He's a general that transferred from one of the Southern cities. He transferred about a month after you left, and he's an idiot, if you ask me. He shoots first and thinks later, saying he's merely 'protecting Central' when he obviously doesn't realize that we can take care of ourselves. This makes me think that his men were unable to protect themselves, which makes no sense at all. But General Brigh is very pig-headed, and would never admit he was wrong. Ever. So I suggest you stay away from him, before he decides that a teen in Central is 'dangerous'."

"What a bastard. Don't worry, I'll definitely be avoiding him, or else I may just castrate him." Ed responded, a grim smirk on his face. Roy snorted before leaning back into the couch he was sitting on and took a few sips of the hot chocolate.

Ed silently took a few sips of his drink, pondering the conversation, but then instantly began to drain the mug. He set the cup down on the table with a clatter, and his eyes began to droop, fluttering open and closed erratically.

Roy chuckled, and stood to take their mugs and put them in the sink to wash later, only returning to the living room to see his subordinate sprawled on the couch and snoring quietly, having finally succumbed to the emotional exhaustion he was feeling. Roy grabbed a blanket from nearby and spread it over the teen, before brushing the hair out of his face.

'_I'm sorry I can't help you more, Edward...And Al...I should never have made you come to Central that day..'_

_**You should have never trusted Hollywood.**_

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**So, there we go! What did you think? Too angsty? Sorry about the abrupt ending. It really irritates me, but I decided to post this anyways.**

**Did you guys notice how I bleeped out "fags" but not "bitches"? Haha XD I guess I find "fags" more offensive. **

**Review, and tell me what you guys think please! I like reviews...almost as much as I enjoy curling up on the floor in front of a fireplace in winter like a cat (which I was doing up until a few minutes ago when my parents came home and told me to get the heck out of the room.).**

**Until next time guys!**

**P.S. If you guys have a oneshot you want me to do (you know, requests and stuff) hit me up in a PM and I'll see what I can do. I've already gotten one that I'll be working on soon...It's a sequel to "If you were Gay" ^_^**

**P.P.S. If there were formatting errors, I apologize. FF is acting stupid...once again.**


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